Larval morphology and ontogeny of Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis Biju &amp;amp; Bossuyt, 2003 (Anura, Nasikabatrachidae) from Western Ghats, India

Raj, P. P. Nikhil; Vasudevan, Karthikeyan; Deepak, V.; Sharma, Richa; Singh, Shashi Bhushan; Aggarwal, Ramesh K.; Dutta, Sushil Kumar

doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3510.1.4

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…In our experience, males have only been observed to call from under a thin layer of soil near the opening of narrow tunnels filled with loose soil. Although recent research has shed some light on the natural history and larval development of the species [26] , [31] , information about the acoustic structure of its vocalizations remains limited [26] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocal Behavior of the Elusive Purple Frog of India (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis), a Fossorial Species Endemic to the Western Ghats

et al. 2014

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Quantitative descriptions of animal vocalizations can inform an understanding of their evolutionary functions, the mechanisms for their production and perception, and their potential utility in taxonomy, population monitoring, and conservation. The goal of this study was to provide the first acoustical and statistical analysis of the advertisement calls of Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis. Commonly known as the Indian purple frog, N. sahyadrensis is an endangered species endemic to the Western Ghats of India. As the only known species in its family (Nasikabatrachidae), it has ancient evolutionary ties to frogs restricted to the Seychelles archipelago (Sooglossidae). The role of vocalizations in the behavior of this unique species poses interesting questions, as the animal is fossorial and potentially earless and it breeds explosively above the soil for only about two weeks a year. In this study, we quantified 19 acoustic properties of 208 calls recorded from 10 males. Vocalizations were organized into distinct call groups typically composed of two to six short (59 ms), pulsatile calls, each consisting of about five to seven pulses produced at a rate of about 106 pulses/s. The frequency content of the call consisted of a single dominant peak between 1200–1300 Hz and there was no frequency modulation. The patterns of variation within and among individuals were typical of those seen in other frogs. Few of the properties we measured were related to temperature, body size, or condition, though there was little variation in temperature. Field observations and recordings of captive individuals indicated that males engaged in both antiphonal calling and call overlap with nearby calling neighbors. We discuss our findings in relation to previous work on vocal behavior in other fossorial frogs and in sooglossid frogs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocal Behavior of the Elusive Purple Frog of India (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis), a Fossorial Species Endemic to the Western Ghats

et al. 2014

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“…The buccopharyngeal cavity of gastromyzophorous and suctorial tadpoles also evolved convergently. The buccopharyngeal cavity has been described for few taxa: Amietia ruwenzorica (Viertel et al 2012 ) Ansonia longidigita , Ansonia hanitschi , Ansonia minuta (Inger 1985 ; Haas and Das 2008 ), Ascaphus truei (Wassersug 1980 ), Heleophryne natalensis (Wassersug and Heyer 1988 ), Huia cavitympanum , Meristogenys phaeomerus , Meristogenys poecilus , Meristogenys kinabaluensis (Inger 1985 ), Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis (Raj et al 2012 ), and Rhinella quechua (Aguayo et al 2009 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harlequin frog tadpoles—comparative buccopharyngeal morphology in the gastromyzophorous tadpoles of the genus Atelopus (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae), with discussion on the phylogenetic and evolutionary implication of characters

dos Santos Dias,

Anganoy-Criollo

2024

Sci Nat

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The Neotropical genus Atelopus is the most diverse genus of bufonids comprising 99 species. Tadpoles of these frogs are readily distinguished based on the presence of a belly sucker, used by them to stay attached to rocks in fast-flowing streams. Despite their intriguing biology, information about their anatomy is scarce and many morphological systems are unknown. We describe the buccopharyngeal cavity of five Atelopus species. The Atelopus buccopharyngeal cavity is characterized by (1) presence of a pendulum-like papillae in the prenarial arena, (2) presence of a glandular zone in the prenarial arena, (3) narial vacuities, (4) conical median ridge, (5) absence of buccal roof arena papillae, (6) absence of buccal roof pustulations, (7) single pair of infralabial papillae, (8) absence of lingual papillae, and (9) absence of pustulations in the buccal floor. We propose that characters 1, 2, and 3 are new synapomorphies for the genus. We also propose that the presence of a single pair of infralabial papillae is a synapomorphy for bufonid. Finally, we discuss the convergent evolution of gastromyzophorous and suctorial tadpoles withing anurans.

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“…71 for a different interpretation), and numerous candidate species hypothesized from larval morphology await formal description (e.g., the strange tadpole of ref. 37 waited for almost 100 years to be assigned to the recently described adults of Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis 72 ). This makes ignorance about tadpoles as basic entities resemble a Linnean shortfall.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global shortfalls of knowledge on anuran tadpoles

Vera Candioti,

Baldo,

Grosjean

et al. 2023

npj biodivers

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Despite the amount of data on different aspects of biodiversity, such as species distributions, taxonomy, or phylogenetics, there are still significant gaps and biases in the available information. This is particularly true for life history traits, with fragmentary data for most taxa, especially those with complex life cycles. Anurans (frogs and toads) show larval (premetamorphic) stages that are in general radically decoupled from adult forms in most biological aspects. Our understanding of this group is highly uneven, as the main wide-scope investigations focus on adult specimens and larval stages remain unknown for a significant part of the anuran tree. The main purpose of this work was to estimate the extent of knowledge gaps regarding the diversity of tadpoles, interpret their biological and geographical patterns, and discuss possible explanations and implications for other large-scale analyses. Our findings show that more than half of the anuran species described to date still lack information on their embryonic/larval stages. Furthermore, knowledge varies among taxonomic groups, larval ecomorphological guilds, and world ecoregions. Description percentages generally decrease in lineages with a higher proportion of species known or suspected to have endotrophic development. Also, geographic areas with the highest levels of ignorance in larval biology (Tropical Andes and New Guinea) coincide with the highest diversity of endotrophic guilds. Among exotrophic larvae, generalized lentic-lotic tadpoles have the widest distribution and levels of knowledge, whereas specialized lotic, fossorial, and terrestrial forms are more taxonomically and geographically restricted. Further large-scale analyses on tadpole biology are crucial for their impact in varied scientific disciplines including anuran conservation. At a conceptual level, the discussion of the anuran biphasic life cycle is pertinent in the context of shortfalls of biodiversity knowledge and their interrelationships.

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Larval morphology and ontogeny of Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis Biju & Bossuyt, 2003 (Anura, Nasikabatrachidae) from Western Ghats, India

Cited by 11 publications

References 27 publications

Vocal Behavior of the Elusive Purple Frog of India (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis), a Fossorial Species Endemic to the Western Ghats

Vocal Behavior of the Elusive Purple Frog of India (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis), a Fossorial Species Endemic to the Western Ghats

Harlequin frog tadpoles—comparative buccopharyngeal morphology in the gastromyzophorous tadpoles of the genus Atelopus (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae), with discussion on the phylogenetic and evolutionary implication of characters

Global shortfalls of knowledge on anuran tadpoles

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